Two-way flush valve mechanism



March 1, 1955 J. o. THORNDIKE 2,702,908

TWO-WAY FLUSH VALVE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 12, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I1 I I III I III I [/11 [Ill/[[111]] l/I/Il/Il/Il I [III/111111112 I II 11/ '1 11/ I III] 1/1 III 1/! 0| I I x i i United States Patent TWO-WAY FLUSH VALVE MECHANISM James 0. Thorndike, Whitman, Mass.

Application December 12, 1951, Serial No. 261,314

Claims. (Cl. 4-37) This invention relates to flush toilets of the type havinga gravity tank from'which flows the water for flushing the toilet.

The typical toilet tank is made with sufficient capacity to meet maximum flushing requirements and in todays standard practice generally contains six to eight gallons of water. In many instances, it is possible to conduct the flushing operation with the use of less water but in the tanks as now provided there is no means for utilizing fractional quantities of the water in the tank. Thus, more water is used than needed and there is increased expense where the water is metered.

Accordingly, the primary object of this invention is to provide a mechanism which may be incorporated in a conventional toilet tank which'will permit the user to elect to flush the toiletwith the entire tank quantity or a fractional part thereof. In general, the mechanism will be set to utilize a full tank when the handle is turned in one direction and a half tank when the handle is turned in the opposite direction. While it is understood that many devices in the prior art have been designed to achieve this result, still as far as is known to me, the constructions of these prior devices do not permit their easy and ready introduction into existing toilet tanks. By the present construction it is possible to introduce new controlling mechanism by the removal of the present handle and valve lever and the substitution of a replacement unit consisting of a new handle, valve lever and intermediate controlling mechanism.

The present invention also incorporates means whereby the user, by modifying the size of a small metering orifice, may vary at will the amount of water that will be used whenever less than a full tank flush is desired. Ordinarily, however, the orifice, 'once adjusted to provide for about a half tank flush, will not have to change H thereafter.

The invention will bemore clearly understood as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of, a conventional toilet tank with the front wall broken away and showing the tank full with the outlet valve closed.

Fig. 2 is a plan view taken principally on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevationtaken from the rear of the tank looking toward the front, on'the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, just after the handle has been, actuated to cause a half tank flush.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2, showing, the mechanism just after the handle has been actuated to cause a full tank flush.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is, shown a conventional toilet tank 2 having. a supply pipe indicated at 4 but not shown in further detail as it andits related valve are conventional. The supply, pipe valve is controlled in the usual manner by a float 6 carried by the lever operating arm 8.

The outlet pipe 10 leading to the toilet is likewise conventional and includes the valve seat 12 and the connected overflow pipe 14. A hollow rubber ball valve 16 normally closes pipe 10 during periods of non-use. The ball valve is actuated in the conventional manner by means of the vertical stem 18, stem guide 20, upper link 22 and the valve lever 24.

The mechanism that enables this invention to cause the discharge ofa fractional part of the tank of water will now be described in more detail by reference to the various figures in which like parts have been given the same number.

Commencing with the operating handle 26, it will be seen that there is a shaft 28 fixed thereto, supported by a bushing or bearing 30 which is secured to the inner face of the tank in conventional manner by a nut 32in threaded engagement with the bushing extension 34. At:- fixed to the inner end of bushing 30 is a pivot supporting plate 35.

The inner end of shaft 28 has secured thereto a combination cam and lever 26 which includes a cam sur= face 38 and a lever 40. The lever 40 has a forked end, best shown in Fig. 2, which straddles a cylinder 42. Cylinder 42 has at its lower end valve mechanism which will be described hereinafter. The cylinder also contains a piston 44, the upper end of which is bifurcated as at 46 to receive and be pivotally secured to valve lever 24. Lever 24 has its rear end pivoted at 48 on plate 35 and carries at its outer end the link 22 which functions in the usual manner to lift the stem 18 that carries ball valve 16. Stem 18 is guided in its up and down movement by the guide member 20, previously referred to.

The lower portion of cylinder 42 is constructed as follows. At the lower end is a port 59 of ample size to permit quick entrance of water into the cylinder. This port is closed by a one-way valve 52 having an upwardly extending stem 54 which acts as means for limiting the downward movement of piston 44. At the side of'the cylinder, near the bottom, is a small metering orifice member 56 of limited capacity as compared with port 50. The object of this arrangement is to permit easy sucking in of water through port as piston 44 is moved upwardly with respect to cylinder 42 and relatively slow discharge of water through orifice 56 after port 50 has closed when downward movement of piston 44 has commenced.

Attached to lever 40 and extending upwardly therefrom is a stop in the form of a metal strip 58 having its end turned horizontally as at 60 and in which is set an adjusting screw 62 which may be locked in any adjusted position by nut 64. The purpose of this stop mechanism is to limit upward movement of lever 24 with respect to lever 40.

The operation of the invention is as follows. When it is desired to flush the tank completely, the user. turns handle 26 as viewed in Fig. l counter-clockwise and as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4 clockwise. On so doing and now referring to Fig. 4, lever 40 will be raised and with cylinder 42 and the upper end of piston 44 acting as a link, lever 24 will be raised as shown. This results in lifting valve 16 a sufficient distance above valve seat 12 so that the outward flow of water through pipe 10 will not be able to overcome the tendency of the air filled valve 16 to rise to a limiting position against guide 20. Thus, the valve is completely open and the water in the tank runs out in the normal manner until the level drops to a point close enough to valve seat 12 to permit reseating of valve 16 which has descended with the water level during the last part of the tank discharge. As soon as valve 16 has reseated, further discharge is prevented. Float 6 is in down position and has opened the water valve attached thereto so refilling of the tank at once commences, to prepare for the next flushing.

In the operation just described, it will be noted that there is no relative movement between cylinder 42 and piston 44 as lever 24' is being raised. As soon as the valve has been completely opened with valve 16 rising to the position shown in Fig. 4, the operator may release handle 26 which permits lever 24 to return immediately to its normal downmost position, as indicated in Fig. 1, with the upper link 22 sliding downwardly in relation to stem 18 which remains in the position shown in- Fig. 4 until the water level has descended far enough to take valve 16 downwardly with it to close pipe 10.

When it is desired to use only a fraction of a tankful of water for the flushing operation, the user moves the handle 26 clockwise, as viewed in Fig. l, andcounter clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3. This handle movement, with reference now to Fig. 3, results in the upperright corner of cam 38 engaging a corresponding undercam surface 66 of valve lever 24 causing this lever to be raised while, at the same time, lever 40 is lowered. Upward movement of lever 24 causes corresponding upward movement of piston 44 and downward movement of lever 36. causes corresponding downward movement of cylinder 42. In other words, when handle 26 is rotated counterclockwise piston 44 is drawn out of cylinder 42 and this in turn results in an additional quantity of water, as indicated at 68, being drawn into the submerged lower end of cylinder 42 through port 50 with valve 52 automatically opening. Upward movement of lever 24 is limited by the engagement of the top of the lever with the lower end of adjustable stop 62. By varying the adjustment of the stop, the extent of the piston movement in the cylinder can be controlled so that a greater or lesser quantity of water will be drawn into the cylinder.

The extent of the upward movement of lever 24 is purposely limited so that the upward movement of valve 16 away from the valve seat 12 will be limited. The maximum upward movement of valve 16 will not be beyond a position where it will still be within the downward current of the water as the water flows into discharge pipe 10. That is to say that even though the valve 16 is filled with air tending to cause it to float upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4, still it cannot do so because its movement away from the valve seat has not been far enough to remove it from the influence of the rapid water fiow created as soon as the valve 16 is opened. Thus, as indicated in Fig. 3, the valve 16, while open, is now being forceably urged toward the valve seat 12 by the outgoing water but is restrained from immediate seating by virtue of the water 68 now present in the cylinder which checks downward movement of piston 44, valve lever 24 and the connected valve 16. The small orifice 56, which may either be adjustable as to its capacity or may be replaceable by other orifices of larger or smaller size, permits the slow escape of water 68 from the cylinder 42 under the downward pressure piston 44 created by the weight of the piston, valve lever 24 and the downward pull of valve 16 as it is urged toward closed position by the discharging water.

It is believed apparent that by having orifice 56 of suitable size, the time that will elapse before valve 16 is reseated can be controlled. This time of reseating can in turn be related to the quantity of water and the rate of discharge into pipe 10. In the preferred arrangement, valve 16 will be permitted to reseat itself when approximately one-half of the tankful of water has been discharged. It will thus be seen that the construction heretofore described permits discharge of a full tank of water when the handle 26 is moved in one direction and a fractional tank of water when the handle is moved in the opposite direction. The fractional quantity discharged may be varied at will but experience has shown that the half tank setting of orifice 56 produces satisfactory flushing results.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

, I claim:

1. A valve construction for use with the water tank of a flush toilet comprising a handle exterior of said tank, a shaft connected to said handle and extending through said tank wall, a first lever fixed to said shaft, a cam fixed to said shaft, a cylinder connected to said first lever and having its lower end free and normally submerged in said tank water, a valve lever pivotally mounted with respect to said tank and being above said first lever and positioned to be engaged by said cam when said first lever is rotated downwardly, a piston within said cylinder. said piston being connected to said valve lever, a stop member for limiting the distance said valve lever may be raised by said cam with respect to said first lever, a one-way valve in said cylinder below said piston to permit water to enter said cylinder when said piston is raised with respect to said cylinder upon the separation of said first lever and valve lever caused by said cam and a metering control orifice for limiting the rate at which water may be discharged from said cylinder when said valve lever and piston are moved downwardly with respect' thereto, means for limiting downward movement of said piston with respect to said cylinder whereby said first lever when moved by .said handle upwardly in the direction of said valve lever will act through said cylinder and piston to lift said valve lever, and a tank valve connected to said valve lever which will be raised only a short distance from its seat whenever said valve lever is raised by actuation of said cam and which will be raised a greater distance when said valve lever is raised by said first lever acting on said valve lever through said cylinder and piston.

2. A device of the type described for use in the water tank of a flush toilet having a water outlet at the bottom of said tank, said device acting to provide mechanism for utilizing in the flushing operation a full tank or a fractional tank of water, said device comprising a pair of levers pivotally mounted with respect to said tank above the water level, one of said levers being longer than the other and having affixed thereto a conventional valve for opening and closing the outlet from said tank, the other of said levers being shorter and connected to said longer lever by a cylinder having its lower end free and normally submerged and a piston in which said piston is connected to said longer lever and said cylinder is connected to said shorter lever, a handle exterior of said tank for causing rotation of said shorter lever, whereby upon rotation of said shorter lever in the direction of said longer lever said piston and cylinder will act as a link to move said longer lever upwardly, a cam pivotally mounted for actuation by said handle, whereby upon actuation of said handle in a direction to move said shorter lever downwardly away from said longer lever, said cam will raise said longer lever and piston and said shorter lever will move said cylinder downwardly, a oneway valve in said cylinder below said piston permitting entry of water when said piston is moved upwardly and a metering orifice for controlling the rate of discharge of water from said cylinder when said piston is thereafter moved downwardly with respect to said cylinder whereby the downward rate of movement of said longer lever may be controlled, and means for limiting the upward movement of said longer lever when raised by said cam whereby said valve will be raised a limited distance from the said outlet and said valve will be positioned in the discharging stream of water and will act to draw said longer lever downwardly and to exert a downward force on said piston.

3. A valve controlling unit for use in the tank of a conventional flush toilet which will permit the user to flush the toilet with a full or partial tank of water, said unit comprising in combination a handle, a handle shaft, a supporting plate and means for securing said plate in fixed relation to said tank, a long lever pivoted on said plate and adapted to be connected to a conventional ball valve, a short lever fixed to said shaft, a cam on said shaft for engaging and raising said longer lever only when said shorter lever is moved downwardly away from said longer lever, stop means for limiting upward movement of said longer lever when actuated by said cam, a link between said levers for causing upward movement of said longer lever when said shorter lever is moved upwardly, said link comprising a piston and cylinder with the lower portion of said cylinder normally positioned in the water of the full tank, said piston connected to said longer lever and the cylinder connected to said shorter lever, means for limiting the movement of said piston into said cylinder, a one-way valve at the lower portion of said cylinder to permit the entrance of water into said cylinder when said piston is moved upwardly with respect to said cylinder when said levers are moved away from each other, and a small orifice in said cylinder for controlling the rate of downward movement of said piston under the influence of a downward for e a plied throu h said longer lever.

4. A valve actuating and controlling unit for use in a flush toilet com rising a plate adapted to be fixed with respect to the tank of said toilet, two levers pivoted on said plate. means for manually swinging one lever up or down throu h a limited arc, means for swin ing said other lever upwardwhenever said first lever is swung either up or down. means for limiting the an ular upward movement of said other lever when said first lever is moved downwardly to an an le less than that which may he obtained when said first lever is moved uowardlv. a oi to t and cvlinder of which one is connected to said first lever and the other is connected to said other lever,

said piston arranged to be withdrawn a limited distance from said cylinder only when said first lever is swung downwardly, and valve means in said cylinder for limiting the rate of return of said piston into said cylinder as said levers move toward each other.

5. A valve actuating and controlling unit for use in a flush toilet comprising a plate adapted to be secured in fixed relation to the tank of said toilet, two levers pivoted on said plate, manually actuated means for swinging one of said levers up or down through a limited arc, means actuated by said one lever for raising said other lever whenever said one lever is swung either up or down, said means for raising said other lever comprising a cam effective only when said one lever is swung downwardly, and a piston and cylinder one of which is connected to said one lever and the other to said other lever, effective through their interaction to raise said other lever only when said one lever is swung upwardly, said piston and cylinder comprising a fluid controlled check means for controlling the rate of return of said other lever to normal position only following angular separation of said levers caused by downward movement of said one lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

